


I Wish I Could Have Met You

by troublesome_tome



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Gen, Hugs, I cried while writing this, Motherly love, breakdowns, pearl is there for one (1) interaction at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23049037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troublesome_tome/pseuds/troublesome_tome
Summary: Steven's most unrealistic fantasies come true, and he stands face to face with his mother.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	I Wish I Could Have Met You

**Author's Note:**

> don't ask how this fic starts because i don't even know  
> anyway i actually cried while writing this i am bad at writing angst okay. i want them to talk even though it's literally impossible

The two gems stood facing each other, both shocked at the sight of each other. To an outsider, it would be quite hard to believe these two were of the same caste; to Steven, it was quite hard to believe this was happening at all.

This was not a dream, no, this was real. He could walk around and touch things and pick them up, he could smell and taste and hear and he knew he was not asleep. He wasn’t in his room within the Temple, either; he was very clearly in his living room, standing face to face with someone he could never imagine meeting.

Steven was standing face to face with his own mother, Rose Quartz.

It had to be a trick. This was an illusion of some sort; a projection of light being cast by someone he couldn’t locate. Or maybe it was Pearl, shapeshifting into Rose for whatever absurd reason she came up with.

Or, perhaps, it really was Rose.

Rose Quartz: the mother he had never gotten to meet, and the one responsible for nearly all the strife and despair in his life.

The gem he wished he could have known. The gem he could never forgive.

It really, surely was Rose Quartz.

The towering false Quartz stepped towards him; despite her massive size and horrible reputation, her presence was still welcoming. She stopped in front of him, and took his hands in hers.

He was shaking. He didn’t know what to say, or what to do, or what to feel. This was his mother, the one who gave up her life so he could exist, but this was also the reason why he was tormented and nearly murdered constantly as a child. This was the gem who was so kind and caring to save the Earth despite it being full of organics, yet this was also the gem who broke her own pearl and abandoned her best friend. He didn’t know what to feel.

“Steven,” she said, her voice soft like velvet yet sinister, “I’m so, so proud of you.” She squeezed his hands, smiling sweetly at him. “You’ve truly become someone… extraordinary.” 

The word passed over him like a flame, overcoming him and burning him up inside. 

“I don’t want to hear it from you.” was Steven’s response.

Rose was taken aback by his statement. She took her hands away from his, stunned at what he just told her.

Steven looked down. “You never met me. I never met you. I don’t know you, and everything I hear about you just drives that point in further!” Tears were welling up in his eyes. “I wish I could go back to when you were the leader everyone loved and looked up to, not… Not Pink Diamond! I don’t want to hear about you anymore!”

Steven couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. They flowed from him, like a waterfall of pent up emotions and unaddressed feelings. Rose was silent, watching him break down like that.

When she spoke, it wasn’t what he expected.

“I understand.”

Steven looked up at her, and saw her glum expression. He was still angry, still upset, but listened.

“I know I did horrible things… That’s why I took this form in the first place.” Rose walked to him, still minding his space but wanting to be closer. “I wanted to be better. I wanted to fix what I did. I wanted to have you…”

“Why!? So that I could fix everything for you?” Steven lashed out, a pink tinge beginning to spread in his fists and cheeks.

“No! Steven, I…” Rose flinched at the sight of her son turning pink before her. “I didn’t know how to fix what I had done. I wanted to escape from it all, and the only way I could imagine ever being able to fix it… was to disappear.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I wanted you to live a happy life. I didn’t want this for you. I wanted you to be free of my burdens, free to live life how you wanted to.”

Steven started to cry again, the pink tinge receding. “I’m… sorry! I know you wanted me, I…” He reached out to hug her, falling into her embrace. “I wish I could have known you.”

“I wish I could have known you too, Steven. You’re everything I wished you would be.” She hugged him tightly. “And that’s why I’m proud of you. There’s no one else like you.”  
His embrace tightened, and the only sounds he could make were sobs.

“I love you, Steven.” Her voice was shaking.

Before Steven could speak, before he could even consider returning the sentiment, Rose disappeared; her warmth was the only thing that lingered. Hundreds of glowing white butterflies filled her place, flying away and dissipating in mere seconds. He was left in his living room, disoriented and confused yet so, so content, with a newfound sense of peace in him. He sat down on his couch, staring into space and thinking about what just happened.

The sound of the warp pad activating caught his attention. Pearl was standing in the center.

She noticed him staring at nothing in particular, and went to check on him. “Steven? Are you alright?” she asked, in her typical overly-anxious Pearl fashion.

“Yeah,” Steven replied. “I’m just fine.”


End file.
